


An Engaging Dinner

by SunsetNCamden



Series: An Engaging Series [3]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien and Chloe are adopted siblings, Asperger Syndrome, Chloe's father adopted Adrien, Cosplay, F/M, Jealous Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Protective Chloe, Queen Bee, chlonath, dinner date
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-12
Updated: 2018-05-12
Packaged: 2019-05-05 18:59:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14625030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunsetNCamden/pseuds/SunsetNCamden
Summary: Chloe and Nathaniel have dinner on the night of Marinette and Luka's engagement party. They discuss their break up two months ago, Chloe's subsequent one night stand with Luka, Marinette's boyfrined at the time, and whether or not they want to or even can reconcile.Part 3 of an Engaging Series. Can be read on it's own, but I suggest reading Parts 1 and 2 first.Part of Nathaniel's characterization is that he has Asperger's Syndrome. (Please see the end notes of Part 2 for more information.)





	An Engaging Dinner

Chloe ran as fast as her two legs in high heels and a tight skirt could carry her, out the building as the guard waved to her goodnight, across the street, and into the double parked car that was waiting for her. She hurried her driver to leave as she sat back against the car’s leather seating with a huff, disentangled her hands from her shopping bags, and then kicked off her shoes. 

‘ _ Safe _ ,’ she thought at the near miss of coming face to face with Marinette. She hadn’t seen her former friend for two months. After Chloe and Luka shared their horrendously stupid moment in bed together Chloe had quickly vacated Marinette’s apartment, but not before making a pact between them to never, ever speak about what just happened to anyone, especially Marinette. It was a mistake, never to be repeated, discussed, or even thought about. That pact didn’t even last the night.

Chloe had rushed back to the hotel and had basically broken into Adrien’s suite using her manager pass key card that would allow her access to every room in the hotel. Unfortunately, she found his suite empty, since she had forgotten that he had a charity event to attend. Being in a rather fragile state of mind she had slumped down on the floor and started to cry. It was then that her kwami, Pollen, had come out from her hiding place in her purse and she had confessed everything that she had done. The little bee kwami stayed with her chosen, comforting her and listening to her until Adrien had come home. 

Initially, Adrien had been a bit grumpy about finding his adopted sister in his suite during his absence and was about to launch into a lecture about privacy and boundaries, when he noticed her tear stained face. He sat down on the floor with her and listened to her rant and sob about her fight with Nathaniel, her stupid mistake with Luka, and her guilt and shame over betraying Marinette. As much as Adrien hated what had happened, he listened and offered his sympathies without judgment. 

When she had finally talked herself out, he helped her to his bedroom, provided her with a pair of his pajamas, and tucked her in for the night. He slept on the couch, which considering it cost over 5,000 Euros was apparently not all that comfortable based on how much he continued to stretch and twist his back the next morning. She awoke to his concerned face with a cup of much appreciated coffee and a bottle of much needed aspirin in hand. He must have just gotten out of the shower as his hair was wet. He bent over her, shaking his wet locks in her face to spray her with water droplets to make her screech and laugh. Only a knock at the front door ceased his teasing of her and pulled him from the bedroom. 

After drinking her coffee and taking the aspirin, Chloe forced herself out of bed and into the bathroom where she was met with a haunting reminder of the pain and stress of the previous night. Her hair in tangles, her eyes red rimmed, puffy, and streaked with runny mascara, Chloe looked like how she felt. She washed her face and ran her fingers through her hair, trying to make herself look at least somewhat human. Coming back into the bedroom she slipped on her shoes and picked up her discarded dress. She called for Pollen, who zipped into her purse. Chloe only had to walk down the hallway to her own suite. She could most likely do that without being seen in the borrowed pajamas. She glanced at the clock and noted that the morning shift at the hotel had started over an hour ago and they’d probably be wondering where she was. Well, she’d just call in sick. Short of the hotel being on fire she figured her assistant manager, Renee, could probably take care of things. She needed a day (maybe two?) to wallow. Yes, a through day of wallowing, she decided as she picked up her phone to check her messages. 

If she had been less distracted by scrolling through the more than 30 text messages that Nathaniel had sent her overnight, then she might have seen the text message Adrien had sent her warning her to stay put in the bedroom or at least heard the voices in the next room before she walked into Adrien’s lounge. She might have even recognized the female voice as belonging to a certain someone that she would not want to meet right now, or ever for that matter.

“Adrien, thanks so much for last night,” Chloe said with her eyes glued on her phone. “God, you won’t believe how many texts I have…”

“Chloe?”

The blonde girl’s eyes snapped up to see, “Marinette?” She swallowed hard, but then put on a false smile, “What are you doing here?”

“I might ask you the same question…” Marinette looked from Chloe to Adrien and then back again. She took a few steps closer, her hands landing on her hips, “I might also ask what you were doing in my apartment last night? Or should I say,  _ who _ you were doing?”

Chloe audibly gulped, “Marinette…”

“Don’t bother trying to deny it. Luka’s already told me everything!” Her hands clenched into fists at her sides.

Chloe’s eyes flicked to Adrien, who nodded a confirmation. She felt her cheeks burn in shame. In her mind she cursed Luka’s weak nature. How did confessing to Marinette about their mistake help anyone? Hadn’t he ever heard the expression ‘ignorance is bliss’? He was just causing further heartache and trouble. 

“Look, Marinette, it was a mistake. I’m  _ really _ sorry…” Chloe began.

“Sorry? You’re sorry? That’s rich coming from you,” Marinette rolled her eyes.

“What’s that supposed to mean, exactly?” Chloe asked, getting defensive.

“Only that you made my life hell in school and I see that you are still at it!”

“Marinette, this had nothing to do with you…”

“You slept with MY boyfriend! It has  _ everything _ to do with me!”

“No, it has everything to do with Nathaniel. He broke up with me.”

“So that gives you the right to sleep with Luka?”

“What? No! That’s not what I meant. I mean...”

“Thank God Nathaniel broke up with you! At least he can avoid this heartache.”  She narrowed her eyes at her betrayer, “I suppose you’re going after Adrien now, huh? Is that why you’re here?”

“Marinette, you know Chloe and I aren’t like that,” Adrien interjected. 

“Seriously? Okay, that wasn’t called for,” Chloe noted with disdain. Why was she bringing Adrien into this?

“You’re in his pajamas,” she noted.  Oh, that’s why.

“I came here for the same reason that you did. For comfort and advice from a  _ friend _ !” Chloe clarified.

“And stayed the night…”

“I slept on the couch,” Adrien again tried to help. “All perfectly innocent.” He chuckled nervously as his eyes flicked from one woman to the next and back again.

“Not that it’s any of your business!” Chloe reminded her.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Marinette crossed her arms.

“ _ Chlo-eee _ …” Adrien warned.

“No, Adrien. She’s so protective of you when she has no right to be. How many years has it been since you two even dated?” she asked the room rhetorically. “If Adrien sleeps with me or anyone else you have absolutely no reason to be upset!” Chloe pointed an accusatory finger at her.

“I’m not upset! I’m concerned!”

“Oh yeah? Well, maybe if you weren’t so  _ concerned  _ about Adrien, then Luka wouldn’t have slept with me.”

“Are you saying it’s _ my _ fault Luka cheated and slept with you?” Marinette took a step closer and leaned into the space of her rival.

“Nononono! She’s not saying that! You’re not saying that, are you Chloe?” Adrien tried desperately to referee the sparring match.

Chloe simply turned her head and sniffed the air in response. It was her signature move. Her smug haughtiness summarized in a single, wordless gesture that brought Marinette right back to their days in collégè. Her face darkened in response.

“I can’t...I can’t believe you said that!”

“Believe it, sister!” Chloe hissed. “It’s time someone told you the hard truth.”

“I thought we were friends, Chloe!”

“We are!”

“No, not anymore. I never want to see you or hear from you!”

That statement hurt worse than any punch Marinette might have thrown at her. The two had first come together out of necessity to help Adrien through the fallout after his father’s arrest and Adrien’s related suicide attempt. They set their differences aside for the sake of helping him and as a result each woman had discovered the unknown depths that the other was willing to go to for unselfish reasons for the sake of their shared, but troubled friend. Additionally, they had supported each other during difficult moments when they thought they might lose Adrien to his depression. When the threat to his mental health had subsided, the friendship between the two former rivals had surprisingly continued based largely on common interests and tastes in fashion, interior decorating, and food. After Sabrina, Chloe’s best friend, moved to London and Alya, Marinette’s best friend, got married it was not uncommon for the single friends to have a weekly girls’ night out or lunch together at Chloe’s hotel. But no more. Their friendship had come to a sudden and abrupt end. She had not heard from Marinette again since that morning in Adrien’s suite.

The sound of Chloe’s cell phone beeping to indicate that she had a text message jolted her thoughts back to the present. Fumbling as she searched the bags she had dropped in the backseat of the car, she finally found her phone in her purse, where she should have known it would be, but couldn’t remember actually putting it there due to her hasty exit from the sound studio. Opening her phone she saw a text message from Nathaniel.

**N:** Meet now?

Chloe leaned her head back on the seat cushion, thinking. Did she want to do this now? Might as well. Nathaniel already knew about Luka thanks to Alya, so at least she didn’t have to confess her mistake to him. She didn’t know if Nathaniel wanted to reconcile or just have the opportunity to tell her off again. Actually, she wasn’t entirely sure what she wanted even though she had two months to think about it while he was in New York. 

**C:** Headed to the hotel. C u there

From the back of her town car Chloe called her butler informing him that she was on her way back to the hotel and Nathaniel would be coming over. She instructed him to lay out her black Chanel cocktail dress and to set up a dining table for two in her suite. They’d have their usual meal. Her butler was to show Nathaniel to her room upon his arrival.

When she arrived she quickly stowed her shopping bags in her walk-in closet and changed her dress and shoes. She brushed her hair and readjusted her bee comb miraculous to sweep one side of her hair up and off of her face while allowing the other side to flow in soft waves. Primping in the mirror, Chloe retouched her makeup and applied a fresh coat of lip gloss. As a final touch she pulled out the heart necklace Nathaniel had given to her for her birthday (although she had picked it out) and put it on. After a final check in the full length mirror, she walked out to the lounge to greet her guest.

Chloe found Nathaniel sitting in the crook where the two sofas met looking through a small notepad that she recognized as containing the “relationship list.” It listed things Nathaniel should remember to do and say during social interactions with Chloe, mostly compliment her, make small talk, and remember to ask questions about her. The blonde smiled to herself as she regarded him, happy to see him trying and, frankly, just happy to see him.

“Nath,” she greeted him with a smile. She reminded herself to say what she meant. She knew straightforward talk worked best with him, not the flirty games she typically used on guys. “I’m glad you’re here,” she said as she walked over toward him.

Nathaniel immediately got to his feet. He subconsciously looked at the notepad and then raised his head, but didn’t quite meet her eye. “You look very pretty, Chloe.”

“I know,” she said simply. Of course she did, she looked  _ damn _ fine in this dress. She had put on a little weight while dating Nathaniel out of complacency, but she had dropped it all and then some in the two months he had been away.

“You look nice, too.”  Chloe’s eyes lingered over his muscular frame. He had filled out since she first knew him in  collégè . He was not the scrawny, short boy anymore. Although most would still consider him short, he was about a half inch taller than Chloe when she wore her heels, the perfect height for kissing. She noted he wore the navy jacket she bought him. She liked how it brought out his eyes. His hair looked longer and a bit wind blown.

“I brought these for you,” he held out the large floral arrangement consisting of yellow roses, yellow asters, and yellow lillies. Yellow happened to be her favorite color. She took the bouquet happily and thanked him before smelling a rose.

She extended her hand to him, offering him the opportunity to touch her and the option to be touched. She knew the side face kiss often flustered him at having to make a quick decision of left or right, and hugs, well those would be okay only after being in his presence for awhile. He needed to warm up to people and they hadn’t seen each other for two months.

He gratefully took her hand and surprisingly held onto to it longer than she expected he would. He swung their linked hands back and forth in the air as if they were kids on a playground. He smiled lopsidedly at the fun and Chloe giggled at his playfulness.

“Would you like something to drink?” she asked as she led him over to the small dining table.

“Are we eating?”

“We normally do when we see each other. I haven’t had dinner yet. I ordered the soup you like…” She said as she poured him a glass of wine.

“Marinette soup?” he asked, his eyes full of hope. Chloe nodded. It was Nathaniel’s favorite food that the hotel’s restaurant served. When Chloe took over the hotel as manager from her father, the first thing she had done was take the soup off of the menu. It was an item added years ago after Marinette’s great uncle won a cooking competition. It held bad memories for her and she wanted it gone. She didn’t think anyone would notice, but she was wrong because the very next day Nathaniel came to the restaurant for lunch as was his habit, although unbeknownst to her. Upon finding out that his normal lunch order was no longer available he created a huge scene, scaring customers and drawing the attention of the hotel’s security. Only because Chloe recognized him as her shy, former classmate from  collégè had she intervened. With some difficulty she had been able to talk him down from his fit, promising that Marinette soup would be reinstated on the menu and that he could have it whenever he liked. 

From then on she noticed that he came to the restaurant for lunch every Monday and Wednesday. He always ordered the soup. The first lunch after his outburst, she visited him at his table for a few moments just to make sure he was satisfied and comfortable. That’s her job after all. The next time he came she visited him again with the excuse of catching up with an old school friend, well acquaintance. Perfectly acceptable reason. Chloe approached him again a third time, but this time asked if she could sit with him so that they could discuss his artwork. She was interested in seeing if any of his paintings could be used in the hotel’s planned redecoration of the suites on the 11th floor. On his fourth lunch he brought his portfolio for her to see and she ended up buying half a dozen of his paintings. A reasonable business excuse, err, explanation. By the fifth time Chloe had run out of ideas and simply asked if she could join him, to which he readily agreed. After about a dozen lunches together in total he finally asked her out on a proper date. Looking back on it, she now realized that she had slowly introduced a new routine into his weekly schedule that led to her inclusion in his life.    

Now, here they were again, sitting down to a meal together only this time it was dinner and after his outburst that ended in their break up two months ago.

“Great.” He sat down happily at the table. She watched as he placed his still opened notepad to the left of him at an exact 90 degree angle and adjusted the wine glass she gave him so it was exactly centered above the knife and spoon.

Chloe sat down opposite him, placing the flowers carefully on the table. “Do you have something you need to say?” Better to let him express whatever was on his mind otherwise he would be too distracted to listen to  _ her _ .

“Yes,” his brows furrowed as he seemed to be trying to prioritize his thoughts. “Did you like sleeping with Luka?”

Chloe caught the red wine in her mouth just barely with her napkin before it could spray across the table. She swallowed hard and coughed a bit. She had not expected that particular question and took a moment to formulate a response. “Yes” would hurt his feelings. “No” would be a lie. It was pleasurable for sure, but not intimate. 

“I...I regret sleeping with him.” She wouldn’t deny it. It was a mistake on several fronts, but she would not apologize for it at least not to Nath. They were broken up at the time. Actually, they still are broken up. She had apologized to Marinette, but that didn’t go especially well.

“I’m sorry you found out about it the way that you did.” Chloe twisted the napkin in her lap, “Alya should keep her big mouth shut.”

“Actually it was Marinette who told me.”

“Marinette?” Chloe squeaked in surprise. She felt a pang of guilt at betraying her friend. “How is she?”

“She did not look well,” Nathaniel said shaking his head. “I think she may be getting sick.”

“What happened at the engagement party?” she asked, her curiosity getting the better of her. “Did Marinette and Luka break up over me?”

“You came up, but so did Adrien,” the witness to the fight explained. “Marinette really wanted to see him. Luka did not.”

Chloe nodded her head. That seemed right. Marinette was always talking about Adrien, rushing off to see him, making sure he was okay. Chloe could only wonder at how Luka could possibly be okay with it until she learned that horrible night they shared together that he really was not okay with it at all.

Her butler knocked and she called for him to enter. He served them the food, the soup for Nathaniel and a salad for Chloe. She always had a disdain for soup. He also set a basket filled with bread on the table and a cheese board with a dish of fruit on a nearby sideboard for afterwards. The butler left them, taking the bouquet of flowers with him to put in water. They ate in silence for a few moments after which Nathaniel leaned over the small notepad, scanning it with his eyes. Finding what he was looking for amongst the many lines of text he broke the silence.

“Soup’s good. How’s yours?”

“Delicious, thank you,” she smiled in return. She was trying to remain calm, poised. She knew that would help Nathaniel to stay calm, but her nervousness and desire to hash things out was starting to over power her. “I suppose you’re mad that I slept with Luka?”

“No, just confused.”

“I was hurt that we broke up. I went to Marinette’s, cuz I needed a friend to talk to and Adrien was busy at his charity event with Ladybug. Anyway, Marinette wasn’t home, busy with some work thing, I suppose, but Luka was there. We talked, drank waaay too much, and well it turns out Luka felt unhappy with Marinette. I think he’s finally had enough of always taking a backseat to Adrien.”

“You mean when they’re on the tour bus?” he asked referring to their band’s mode of transportation. 

Chloe blinked. ‘ _ Damit _ ,’ she chided herself. ‘ _ Talk straight _ .’

“No, um, sorry, no. I mean Luka has finally had enough of being a lower priority to Marinette than Adrien. Marinette prioritizes Adrien’s needs as more important that Luka’s. Understand?”

“Yes, thanks.”

“So, Luka’s upset about Marinette and I’m upset about you and well we comforted each other...sexually.” Trying to be perfectly clear she blurted, “We had sex!”

“I know.”

“Right. Okay.” Chloe finally exhaled. She ventured a look at Nathaniel who had resumed eating his soup. “Well, say  _ something! _ ” she exclaimed in exasperation.

Nathaniel looked up in surprise. He left his spoon in the bowl and leaned over to read out of his notepad.

“No! No! Not from there! Not social pleasantries! Say something about me sleeping with Luka!”

“Oh! I’m not confused anymore,” he responded. “I don’t like that you did it. I would not like it if you did it again.”

“I’ll scratch it off my to do list, then,” she replied sarcastically. He seemed so calm about it. She wasn’t sure whether to be grateful or offended.

“I wouldn’t like it if you slept with anyone,” he continued, “except me.” He took a deep breath as if to help him get out what he wanted to say. “I want you to be my girlfriend again.” Now, Nathaniel looked relieved, as if something pent up inside of him had been released and he was finally able to relax. He picked up his spoon and began eating again.

Chloe just stared for a minute. There were so many things to figure out to get them to a place where even getting back together might even be a possibility, but Nathaniel had just stated it like someone would say, “I want you to pass me the salt.”

“Are you _ serious _ ?” she asked suddenly and rather loudly.

“Yes.”

“But, I slept with Luka…”

“Yes, and you said you were going to scratch it off of your list of things to do, so no more sleeping with Luka...or anyone else.”

“But, the fight…”

“I texted you about that and you said, ‘I got it.’”

“Yeah, but I only said that because you were sending me like 50 messages a day about it for a week!” She cried in frustration.

“I did not send you 50 messages every day for a week. I sent you 37 on the first day, 26 the following day, then 28, 43…”

“ _ Nathaniel _ …”

“And 15 on the fifth day and that’s when you texted back ‘I got it.’”

“Only to make you stop.”

“And I did.”

“Yeah, but then I didn’t hear from you the whole rest of the time that you were gone! Five weeks of silence.”

Nathaniel frowned, “You said, ‘I got it. Stop texting me.’ So, I stopped texting you.”

“I didn’t mean to _ ignore _ me when  _ I _ texted _ you _ .”

“I didn’t ignore you. I read your texts. I just didn’t text back.”

“That is the  _ definition _ of ignoring!” Chloe threw her hands in the air.

“But you _ told _ me to stop texting you!” Nathaniel stressed.

Chloe pinched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger, trying to calm herself down. 

“Okay, Nath. You’re right I did tell you to stop. I get it.”

Nathaniel leaned the side of his face on his fist as his elbow sat on the table. With his other hand he slowly stirred the soup with his spoon. After a moment he broke the silence between them.

“I did the wrong thing, didn’t I?” he asked quietly.

“No, no,” Chloe soothed, “I wasn’t clear. It was my fault. I just meant to stop texting me about the fight, not to stop texting me completely. It’s okay! I’m not mad.”

“I was just trying to explain…”  The texts Nathaniel sent were meant to explain why he got upset and broke up with her, but they also contained reasons as to why he thought they should get back together. A prospect Chloe had been pondering while he’d been away.

“I know…”

“Do you want me to explain again?”

“No, no,” Chloe waved her hands in front of her. “I get  _ why _ you got upset. I understand. I’m just not sure what to do about it.” 

“Do we have to do something about it?” His eyes looked very big and full of pain. 

Chloe thought back to the fight. She had been in the neighborhood of Nathaniel’s apartment one afternoon and decided on a spur of the moment to drop by and see him. It would finally give her the chance to see his place as well as his larger pieces of artwork. It didn’t ever cross her mind that she’d be barging in and disrupting him. She should have known better, since she had witnessed his outburst when his lunch routine had changed without warning. If only she had been a bit more thoughtful, considered his feelings, but no. She had stormed in suddenly, loudly, and energetically. She moved his stuff to make way for her bags. She bustled around the kitchen looking for things to make tea and had inadvertently broken a mug. And that had been the last straw for Nathaniel. He snapped. 

“You broke it! You can’t do that! You can’t be here!” he yelled.

“I didn’t so it on purpose, Nathaniel,” she replied, surprised at his sudden shouting. “It was an accident.”

“You broke it! That was mine! You broke it!”

“I’m...I’m sorry!” she sputtered.

“You broke it! Broke it!” he continued to yell.

“I said, ‘I’m sorry.’ I’ll buy you a new one.”

 

“No, no. It was mine. Now, it’s broken. You can’t do that! You shouldn't be here. This isn’t where this goes!” he said referring to the sugar bowl Chloe had displaced. “It goes  _ here _ .” He banged it loudly on the counter as he set it down in its proper spot. Nathaniel painstakingly went through the apartment finding everything that Chloe had touched and put them back where they belonged all the while shouting at her. When he came to the bags she had dropped on the floor by the door he picked them up and forced them into her hands.

 

“Now is time for painting. Now is  _ not _ time for tea. Alone time. Not Chloe time. Get out!”   
  


“Wh-what did you say?”

“Get out! Out!” He opened the front door.

“Nathaniel you can’t treat me this way! I’m your girlfriend,” she reminded him indignantly.

“No, no. You can’t! No girlfriends.” He pushed her out into the hallway.

“Are you breaking up with me?”

“Yes! We’re broken up. No girlfriends! Broken up. Go away!” he slammed the door in her face.

Chloe stood in that hallway for what felt like hours just staring at the closed door. A mixture of emotions flooded over her. Initially, she felt shocked that she had been treated so roughly and physically extracted from the apartment. Confusion swirled around her as she did not understand why Nathaniel would get upset enough over a broken coffee mug to break up with her. Humiliation settled inside of her. No one dumped, Chloe Bourgeois! If anything, she did the dumping. But mostly, she was angry, angry at herself for ever coming to this hovel of an apartment in the first place, angry for even contemplating dating short, poor, shy, awkward Nathaniel in the second place, and worst of all angry for falling head over heels in love with him. 

Because Nathaniel had a lot of great qualities that Chloe found very attractive. Besides, his deep blue eyes, hi s strong arms, an d his surprisingly good singing voice, Chloe liked that she was his first girlfriend. He brought no relationship baggage. No crazy ex-girlfriends were going to pop out of the woodwork. Also, he couldn’t compare her to others because no one had come before her and she liked the feeling of being the first, the only, the  _ best _ .

When they were together he always gave her his full attention. He wasn’t on his phone checking his work email or talking to his financial investor the way so many of Chloe’s previous boyfriends had done. He never cancelled a date and was never late for one either. He always showed up with some gift, be it flowers, chocolates, or a piece of artwork he had made for her. Her suite was decorated with drawings, paintings, and sketches he created all of which were of her favorite subject, herself. And, most importantly he only had eyes for her. He never looked at another woman. She could trust him to be completely faithful.

At the same time he wasn’t controlling or suspicious of her. He didn’t mind that she sometimes had to leave suddenly or ran late. After all, she’s a superhero and unbeknownst to him she had certain duties that came first. He didn’t seem to mind that she kept him waiting, perfectly happy to occupy himself with whatever idea had come into his head that he could sketch in his notepad. And, when she returned he never asked questions. She wasn’t barraged with inquiries of where she had been, what she had done, or who she was with. It was a relief not to have to be bothered with coming up with stories and be burdened with the guilt of lying to him.

He was also full of surprises...in a good way. He had a certain playfulness, a childlike curiosity. With all of her responsibilities to the hotel, to her father, to her brother, and to Paris as a whole as one of their heros, she had lost that quality in herself. With Nathaniel it was okay to be silly, to be immature. It was okay to experiment, to be messy, to just have fun.

Chloe regarded Nathaniel as he sat across from her at the table, his last sentence echoing in her head. 

“ _ Do we have to do something about it? _ ” 

“Yes, we have to do something about it.” Chloe took a breath to steady herself. “I think I got into this relationship without fully understanding you...and Asperger’s.”

“I tried to explain…”

“I know you did. I...I just didn’t listen,” she shook her head. “That was my mistake.”

“You don’t want to be my girlfriend again, do you?”

“I didn’t say that  _ exactly _ ,” Chloe hedged. “I’ve done some research…”

Nathaniel snickered.

Chloe’s eyes flicked accusingly at him, “Ok, fine.  _ Sabrina  _ did some research, but I read it.”

Chloe had called her friend across the pond. Being an able and experienced private investigator for a well known London law firm, Sabrina was perfect to volunteer (be voluntold) to research Nathaniel’s condition and report her findings back to her heartbroken friend. She emailed Chloe various articles and links about those with Asperger’s Syndrome (AS) and romantic relationships not only from the perspective of those with the syndrome, but also from the perspective of their n eurotypi cal  (NT) pa rtners. Honestly, not a lot of research had been done and what had been done there was not a lot of consensus. Some of the articles contained first hand account from AS and NT partners and reading those helped to at least understand that the problems Chloe and Nathaniel faced were not atypical.

Over the phone Sabrina tried to summarize her findings as delicately as possible. “Chloe, you have to understand. Nathaniel is never going to get better. There’s no cure, there’s no real treatment.”

“But, you said that there are things we can do...” Chloe reminded her.

“Yes, there’s tricks and tips and rules that can help him to make him seem less awkward and make the relationship more rewarding for you and less confusing for him. You were already doing it with that list of things for him to say when you’re on a date. You can certainly do more of that. And, there can be rules for you, too, to try to avoid disrupting his normal routines.”

“Okay, see? Easy. We can do that,” Chloe asserted confidently with a wave of her hand as if she could just shoo her problems away with a flick of her wrist.

“I think you should talk with Nathaniel’s Asperger therapist. That might help, too. At the very least she could answer your questions.” Sabrina sighed, “But, Chloe you have to understand he doesn’t think the way we do. He doesn’t have the capacity to imagine himself in someone else’s shoes. He can’t empathize. Simply put: this is who he is and if you want to be with him, then you have to accept him. You aren’t going to be able to change him.”

Chloe felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. She had assumed that with time he would get better. It was heartbreaking to think that he would always be like this. 

“But, you  _ can _ help him,” Sabrina continued. “From what I read part of why he likes you is probably because you’re very good at reading people, communicating through nonverbal methods, and getting what you want by doing so. You can help Nathaniel by interpreting for him in social settings. Be, like, his guide.”

“Explain to him what people mean by what they say and do?”

“Yes, exactly. But, when  _ you _ interact with him you need to be very straightforward,” Sabrina explained. “Say what you mean. You can’t play games. He won’t understand that you mean the opposite of what you’re saying. He’ll take you at your word. And, nonverbal cues like fluttering your eyelashes or pouting are going to go right over his head. You won’t get any response.”

Chloe had learned that herself pretty quickly. Nathaniel was completely immune to her normal repatorie of flirting. If she wanted something, then she had to flat out ask for it. Usually, he accommodated her whatever it was. In some ways, it was refreshing to just say what she wanted. It was certainly less work than scheming and play acting the way she normally did with other guys. 

Now, he sat in front of her asking her to be his girlfriend again. She would have to tell him what she wanted.

“Nath, I do want to be your girlfriend again,” she stated and his face immediately brightened. “But, I’m not ready.  _ We’re _ not ready.”

She could see confusion pass over his face again.

“I think we should go slow. Go back to having lunch again together, downstairs at the restaurant.”

“Mondays and Wednesdays.”

“Yes, exactly. And, I’d like to talk with your Asperger’s therapist. Would you be okay with that?”

“What do you want to ask her?”

“I guess I just want to know her thoughts about you being in a relationship with a NT. If she thinks it would work. If there’s things we can do to give us a better chance of making it work.” She shrugged, “I dunno, just some guidance would be nice.”

“Okay. I’ll ask her at my appointment on Tuesday if she’d be willing to talk to you.”

“Thank you.”

“What about going on dates together? Dinner?”

“Um...well, today’s Friday. We can make Friday date night. We can have dinner here if you like.”

“I like your place. I don’t want to have a dinner dates at my place.”

“No, I definitely think your place should be off limits,  _ seriously _ ,” Chloe stated wryly. “And when you’re comfortable we can go out to dinner, but we’ll find places with a quiet table in the corner.”

He slid his right hand with the palm facing up across the table toward her. “What about holding hands?”

“I suppose that’s okay,” Chloe gently placed her hand on top of his, entwining their fingers.

“What about kissing? Can I kiss you?”

“No,” Chloe said firmly and Nathaniel looked like she had just broken his favorite toy. “I want to go slow, but hugs are okay. Okay?”

Nathaniel wiped his mouth with his napkin and then tossed it on the table as he stood up. For a second Chloe thought he was either going to have another fit or just walk out, but instead he walked over toward her while still holding her hand. He gently placed his hand on her elbow and brought her to her feet. Then, he wrapped his arms around her and held her in tight embrace. She melted into his arms. God, she had missed him. She became aware of something hard against her hip.

“ _ Nath! _ ” She pulled away with an expression half bemused, half flattered. “What is  _ that! _ ” She pointed in the general region of his crotch. At his blank face she explained, “There’s something  _ hard _ there! You got something in your pocket?” she joked.

His face lit up as he reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out a small gift box. “I forgot. I got you a gift.”

“You did!” she squealed with delight, grabbing the package with greedy hands.

“Yes, you said I should bring you back something from New York.” His eyes flicked to the notepad on the table where somewhere in his notes he had written that down.

“Well, yeah, but I didn’t expect you to since we broke up,” she said offhandedly as she loosened the ribbon around the box.

“I can take it back,” he reached for the box, but she twisted away so that he grabbed for thin air.

“No! It’s mine now!” she cried happily. She could tell it was jewelry,  _ expensive _ jewelry. She opened the box and inside was a gold ring in the shape of a bee, encrusted with pearls and crystals. “Gucci!” she hopped up and down. She took it out of the box and slipped it on one of her fingers. The crystals caught the light, sparkling and twinkling.

“I know how much you like bees,” he said in reference to the hair comb she always wore. “I thought we could use it when we play.”

“I love it! Thank you!” she cooed with satisfaction as she gave him another hug, When she pulled away to admire her ring he asked another question.

“Can we still play?”

“Well…” she hummed, “I suppose it depends on who you want to be.”

“Chat Noir.”

“Nope, sorry. The costume’s still not ready,” Chloe shook her head. She wasn’t so sure she wanted her former boyfriend/lover dressing up as her brother/former crush. That might be confusing. She would have to continue to put Nathaniel off. “But, I have some knew ones…” she teased. 

He didn’t wait to hear anymore and took off running toward her closet. She followed, laughing as she raced him, despite her high heels.

“I get to be Queen Bee!” After all, she had the perfect accessory.

**Author's Note:**

> Please see the end notes of Part 2 for a list of the symptoms I selected for Nathaniel Asperger's Syndrome.
> 
> Based on the tease for the new episode, Frightningale, the ending of the fanfic is fitting.
> 
> I love the idea of Sabrina turning her snooping skills into a career.
> 
> I promise the Adrien/Marinette conversation that you all have asked for will be Part 4.


End file.
